Book easel



g- 29, 1967 o. A. SCHMIDT v 3,338,544

BOOK EASEL Filed Sept.

T 0 Rm y m# M NS R E. 0 VA v "H E United States Patent O 3,338,544 BOOK EASEL Dale A. Schmidt, Milwaukee, Wis., assiguor to Western Publishing Company, Inc., Racine, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Sept. 1, 1965, Ser. No. 484,413 6 Claims. (Cl. 248-452) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An easel for a ring-bound type of book for supporting the book in an inclined position on a table top or the like. The easel itself is book-shaped to conform to the book in the closed position, and has sides which are movable with respect to its own back piece for supporting the book in the open position. A flexible tongue is attached to the back piece of the easel for connecting to the rings of the book, and additional connecting means are spaced from the tongue for also connecting to the rings of the book when the easel is in the closed position.

This invention relates to a book easel, and more particularly it relates to an easel for a ring-bound type of book.

It is a general object of this invention to provide an improved easel for a ring-bound type of book. The easel is arranged so that it supports the book in an open position on a horizontal surface, such as a table or counter top or the like. Further, one specific application for the easel is its use on a cook book Where one can open the book and support it on the table or counter top in a tilted position for better reading.

Still other objects of this invention are to provide an easel for a ringbound type of book wherein the easel is inexpensive in manufacture, easy to apply to the book, is useful in both the positions Where the book is open and where the book is closed in that the easel can also be closed or folded with the book for storage on a shelf, the easel is sturdy and provides a stable support for the book, it is easily manufactured from a sheet material which is preferably a plastic which need only be die cut, and it even lends itself to receiving printed material if so desired.

Other objects and advantages become apparent upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodi ment of an easel of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the easel of FIG. 1, and showing it attached to a ring-bound book shown fragmentarily.

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of FIG. 2, and showing the side flaps of the easel in a second position in dotted lines.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the easel of FIG. 1 in the flat or unfolded position as it may be formed by die cutting or the like from a flat sheet.

The easel is shown to consist of a central portion and two side portions or flaps 11 which are pivotally attached to the central portion 10 along the fold lines 12. The lines 12 may be fold or score lines placed in the flat sheet forming the easel in the manufacture of the easel and as indicated in FIG. 4.

It will therefore be understood that the easel as shown in FIG. 1 is in What may be termed the folded position to conform to the shape of a closed book. Thus the easel is U-shaped in top or bottom plan View, and FIG. 3 shows the easel legs or sides 11 in the folded position which would of course be the position of the easel when the book is folded and placed on the shelf, and thus the easel does not occupy excessive space compared to the size of the book itself. Therefore the central portion 10 extends along what may be the books cover binding designated 13 in FIG. 3, and the easels side flaps 11 extend along the books front cover 14 and rear cover 16 and the flaps 11 extend parallel to the covers 14 and 16 when the book and easel are in the closed positions.

FIG. 2 shows the easel supporting the book generally designated 17 and including the cover 14, the pages 18 and the binding rings 19. The book is shown in the tilted or supported position, and it would of course be resting at its lower edge (not shown) on a table top or other horizontal surface. Thus the upper edges 21 of the easels flaps 11 are beveled to align with the tilted angle of the books covers 14 and 16. Of course the easels lower edge 22 would rest on the horizontal surface, and such edge is shown to be on a right angle with respect to the central portion 10 whereas the upper edges 21 are at an acute angle thereto.

The easel is preferably made from a sheet material, as shown in FIG. 4, and this material may be of a flexible nature, but having suflicient strength to stand up for supporting the book 17 in the FIG. 2 position. Of course the sheet may still be a relatively thin material and support the book since it does assume a U-shape in the supporting position, such as shown in full lines in FIG. 3.

To attach the easel to the book 17, a tongue or extension 23 is integral with the central portion 10 and is connected thereto through a flap 24 attached to the central portion at the edges designaed 26. The flap 24 is shown to be folded downwardly along the edge 26 in FIG. 1, and the tongue 23 is attached to the flap 24 along the edge 27 of FIG. 4. The tongue 23 is of course flexible, and can therefore be placed into the curved position shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. This permits threading or lacing of the tongue 23 with respect to the book rings 19. Thus the tongue 23 can be threaded under the first ring 28, and it'will then extend over the ring 28 and under the second ring 29 and the third ring 31 and so on depending upon the spacing of the rings and the length of the tongue 23. This arrangement of the tongue 23 and the flap 24 and the threading of the tongue with respect to the ring 28 permit pivoting the entire easel with respect to the book so that the easel can be placed in the supporting position shown in FIG. 2, and it can also be placed in a position where the portions 10 and 11 are parallel and adjacent the book cover binding portion 13 and front and rear covers 14 and 16, as described.

Of course it will be seen that the easel can therefore be readily and easily attached to the ring-bound book 17, and of course it can also be easily detached by unlacing the tongue 23. Another feature is that the upper edge of the portion 10, that is the edge 32, abuts the ring 28 in the FIG. 2 position to hold the book upwardly. Also, it will be noted that the tongue 23 has been formed from a cut-out defined by the opening 33 which permits the tongue to pass around the ring 28 and under the rings 29 and 31 as the tongue can pass through the opening 33 for this purpose.

To releasably secure the easel to the book 17 when both are in the folded position, there is provided a means which snaps onto one of the book rings 19. This means is a projection or second tongue designated 34 on the central portion 10 and spaced from the opening 33 and tongue 23. The projection 34 defines the upper edge of an opening 36 which receives one of the rings 19 when the easel central portion 10 is disposed adjacent the cover binding 13, and then the projection 34 can be forced under the ring 19 to snap thereunder as the opening 36 is arranged to exactly align wth one of the rings 19 when the easel is attached to the book as shown.

Thus it will be understood that there is provided an easel for a ring-bound type of book wherein the easel can be made to be compact with the book in the closed position and it can be opened to support the book in a tilted position. When opening the book after the easel has been released from the book and the tab 34, simply opening the book will position the easel in a supporting position, such as the position shown in FIG. 2, by virtue of the beveled upper edges of the easel. That is, one need not make any adjustments or set the easel under the book but simply opening the book and placing it on the horizontal surface in the tilted position will automatically position the easel as desired.

While a specific embodiment of this invention has been shown and described, it should be obviou that certain changes could be made in the embodiment and the invention should therefore be determined only by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An easel for a ring-bound type of book, comprising a piece of a pliable material having suflicient strength to support a book in a tilted position on a horizontal surface when said piece is uprightly disposed, said piece including a lower edge and an upper edge oblique to said lower edge, and a flexible tongue connected to the upper edge of said piece and being pliable throughout its length and capable of being threaded with respect to the rings of said book for pivotally attaching said piece to said book in a tilted book-supporting position.

2. An easel for a ring-bound type of book, comprising a sheet of a flexible plastic material and including a book-support portion and a tongue portion integral with said book-support portion, said book-support portion being U-shaped similar to the cover of said book to extend in a central portion along the cover binding of said book and also have a side extend along each of the front and back cover flaps of said book, said tongue portion being pivotally connected to said book-support portion at one edge of said central portion and being flexible for lacing with respect to the rings of said book to attach said easel to said book, the edges of said sides of said book-support portion at the end adjacent said one edge being beveled down from said central portion for supporting said book in a tilted position on a horizontal surface.

3. An easel for a ring-bound type of book, comprising a sheet of a flexible material folded into a U-shaped body portion to conform to the shape of 'a closed book and capable of being unfolded and disposed in an upright position to support the book in a tilted position on a horizontal surface, said body portion having an opening therethrough extending from the upper edge thereof, and a tongue pivotally attached to said upper edge and capable of passing through said opening and with said tongue being flexible and extending along said opening and therethrough for lacing with respect to the rings of said book to movably secure said body portion to said book for alternately dispensing said body portion parallel to the cover of said book and oblique thereto in the inoperative and operative positions, respectively.

4. An easel for a ring-bound type of book, comprising a sheet of a flexible material folded into a U-shaped body portion to conform to the shape of a closed book and capable of being unfolded and disposed in an upright position to support the book in a tilted position on a horizontal surface, said body portion having a first opening therethrough extending from the upper edge thereof, and a tongue pivotally attached to said'upper edge and capable of passing through said first opening and with said tongue being flexible and extending along said first opening and therethrough for lacing with respect to the rings of said book to movably secure said body portion to said book for alternately disposingsaid body portion parallel to the cover of said book and oblique thereto in the inoperative and operative positions, respectively, said body portion having a second opening adjacent the lower edge thereof and being spaced from the pivotal connection of said tongue to snugly receive one of the rings of said book to releasably secure said body portion in the position parallel to said cover.

5. An easel for a ring-bound type of book, comprising a piece having suflicient strength to support a book in a tilted position on a horizontal surface by having said book rest on the upper edge of said piece, a flexible tongue connected to said upper edge of said piece and being of a material and characteristic capable of being threaded into the rings of said book for pivotally attaching said piece to said book at said upper edge, and means on said piece spaced from said upper edge for releasably engaging a ring of said book to releasably attach said piece in a position parallel to said book and thereby restrain the pivoting of said piece on said book.

6. An easel for a ring-bound type of book, comprising a book-support portion and a tongue portion integral with said book-support portion, said book-support portion being U-shaped similar to the cover of said book to extend in a central portion along the cover binding of said book and also have a side extend along each of the front and back cover flaps of said book, said tongue portion being connected to said book-support portion at one edge of said central portion and being flexible for lacing with respect to the rings of said book to attach said easel to said book, said central portion having an opening therein and including a tab extending into said opening for snapping into a ring of said book when said easel is not in the book supporting position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,228,136 5/1917 Reed 281-42 1,728,431 9/ 1929 Mevi 281-33 2,114,528 4/ 193 8 Ghislin 248-459 2,375,190 5/1945 Botts 281-33 2,778,153 1/1957 Raby 248-,452

CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN EASEL FOR A RING-BOUND TYPE OF BOOK, COMPRISING A PIECE OF A PLIABLE MATERIAL HAVING SUFFICIENT STRENGTH TO SUPPORT A BOOK IN A TILTED POSITION ON A HORIZONTAL SURFACE WHEN SAID PIECE IS UPRIGHTLY DISPOSED, SAID PIECE INCLUDING A LOWER EDGE AND AN UPPER EDGE OBLIQUE TO SAID LOWER EDGE, AND A FLEXIBLE TONGUE CONNECTED TO THE UPPER EDGE OF SAID PIECE AND BEING PLIABLE THROUGHOUT ITS LENGTH AND CAPABLE OF BEING THREADED WITH RESPECT TO THE RINGS OF SAID BOOK FOR PIVOTALLY ATTACHING SAID PIECE TO SAID BOOK IN A TITLED BOOK-SUPPORTING POSITION. 